Corset



No. 609,434. Patented Aug. 23, I898.

' E. E. HOWE.

CORSET.

(Application filed Aug. 17, 1897.)

(No Model.)

WITNESS 58.

ATTORNEYS,

THE NORRIS Ptrtns ca, mo'rqljmuq WASHINGTON. a. c.

STATES -ATENT Eric.

coRsET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 609,434, dated August 23, 1898.

Application filed August 17,1897. Serial No. 648,493. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be itknown that LELEANOR EUDORA HOWE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corsets, of which the following is a full and complete specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to corsets; and the object thereof is to provide improved means for fastening a corset without the use of laces, buttons, hooks, or similar devices, said corset being provided with reinforcing-straps which are secured to the opposite sides thereof, which meet at the back, and which are passed around the body and connected at the front by means of a buckle or similar device; .and with these and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings forming part of this specification I have shown my improvement applied to that class of corsets in which the body is solid or composed of a single piece or of separate parts permanently connected, said corset being open at the back.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which the separate parts of myimprovement are designated by the same numerals of reference in both views, and in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a corset made according to my invention; Fig. 2, a perspec tive front view showing the method of securing the same. i

In the practice of my invention, reference being made to the drawings, I provide a corset 5, the separate sides of which are provided with reinforcing straps or belts 6 and 7, which are detachably connected with the corset by means of buttons 8, which are secured to the corset, and corresponding button holes 9, formed in the straps or belts 6 and 7.

The ends of the straps or belts 6 and 7, where theyare connected with the corset, are as wide asthe corset, and rapidly diminish in width, as shown in Fig. 1, and the end of one of said straps is provided with a buckle 10, and the end of the other with a plurality of perforations 11, and by means of the rapidlydiminishing width of the straps 6 and 7 from the point or points where they are connected with the corset oppositely-directed projecting portions 12 are formed, and these projecting portions 12 are provided with cross-stays 13, which consist of whalebone or other suitable material, and similar crossstays 1 1 are secured in said straps or belts transversely thereof and near' the wider portion, the object of these stays being to retain the wider ends of the belts or straps in proper position and to prevent the same from shrinking or twisting in the operation'of the straps or belts. I also form in the body of the corset and between the middle thereof and the side which is provided with the strap 7 a vertical slot or opening 15, and the operation will be readily understood from the foregoing description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the following statement thereof.

In practice my improved corset is applied to the person in the usual manner, and when a corset composed of a single piece, as shown in the drawings, is employed the opposite sides thereof meet opposite the medium line of the chest and waist, and the strap 6 is passed around one side of the person within the corset and through the slot or opening 15, and the strap 7 is passed aroundin the opposite direction outside the corset, and said straps are connected at the front, as shown in Fig. 2. As a result of this construction the necessity of lacing a corset every time it is put on and unlacing it when it is removed is avoided, and it will be apparent that the corset is also adjustable to the size of the waist and may be easily tightened or loosened whenever desired by simply tightening or loosening the straps 6 and 7, and this can be done easily and conveniently without removing the corset. A further advantage results from the fact that the strain is all brought to the center of the corset byreason of the belts or straps which pass around the same, and the upper and lower parts are free to expand and adjust themselves to the shape of the waist.

My invention is not limited to the means herein shown and described for connecting the straps 6 and 7 with the body of the corset, and any suitable device may be employed for this purpose, the only object being to construct the same in such manner that the straps or belts are detachable.

The straps or belts 6 and 7 are in practice preferably composed of two separate pieces of similar form stitched together, and these separate pieces are also, preferably, composed each of two separate pieces, the wider ends of said straps or belts being cut from the fabric of which they are composed, so as to give the greatest possible strength thereto, and the narrower ends of said straps being similarly cut and stitched or sewed to the wider ends, and the essential features of my invention consist in forming said straps or belts as described and providing the same with the cross stays or braces 13 and 14 and providing means for detachably connecting said straps or belts with the corset.

Having fully described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent A corset, the opposite sides of which are provided with detachable belts or straps, the ends of said belts or straps adjacent to the body of the corset being widened approximately as wide as said corset, the said straps or belts being provided at the free ends thereof with means for connecting the same, the upper and lower extended portions at the inner ends of the straps adjacent to the body portion of the corset being stiffened with transverse stays, and the body portions of said belts or straps adjacent to the wider ends being also provided with transverse stays, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in presence of the subscribing witnesses, this 29th day of July, 1897.

ELEANOR EUDORA HOWE.

Witnesses:

D. M. ROWLAND, M. J. RIELLY. 

